


Flowers for Midsummer

by Ulan



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 07:31:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6414592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ulan/pseuds/Ulan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lovers are to wear matching flowers for Imladris' first Midsummer Feast. Young Arwen took it upon herself to distribute the flowers and, of course, sought out her favourite couple first. What she finds, however, is a very big and very disappointing surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flowers for Midsummer

"What do you mean you are not together?" asked Arwen. A basket of assorted flowers was in her hand. If one were to look into them, one would find that each kind of coloured blossom came in pairs. 

"It is as we said, my dear," said Erestor. He was holding the pink myrtle that Arwen gave to him, the match of which was with Glorfindel, who stood beside him. "We are not romantically involved. Therefore, there is no need to give us flowers for today's festivities."

"But..." Arwen had that look about her of one whose world made a sudden shift - which, in her case, was not far from the truth. "But that makes no sense! All my life, I thought you were a couple!" 

Erestor gave her an odd look, but Glorfindel, at least, merely chuckled at her outburst. "I am sorry, Arwen," he said to her gently. Arwen always thought him to be the gentler one of the two. "That is the truth, though. Erestor and I are friends." 

Arwen shook her head, still lost in disbelief. "But you are so close!" 

"We are _good_ friends," amended the captain. 

"But!" Frustrated at uttering the same word so often, Arwen blew at the hair on her face, unconcerned with decorum in light of this revelation. "You are always together. I cannot remember the last time that I saw one of you without the other, except when Glorfindel is out on patrol or has marched off to aid in some war or skirmish to Elbereth knew where. And in those times Erestor has always looked worried and uncomfortable, worse than Nana sometimes when Ada has done the same."

A dark golden eyebrow rose at this; evidently, this was news to Glorfindel. "Is that so?" he asked, smiling at Erestor, who flushed beside him. 

"It is natural to worry," said the chief counsellor. He cleared his throat. "Friends can worry, can they not?"

"When Erestor is needed but he is not in his room or his office, we know to look in Glorfindel's room. And you are usually there, Erestor - at dawn and early mornings, even! So we know you have spent the night."

Glorfindel still laughed at this. "It is Erestor's poorly kept secret that he is lazy when it comes to things outside of work." He smiled at his friend, who had glared at him at such an assessment, before he turned back to Arwen. "Sometimes, our discussions extend deep in the evenings, or perhaps a chess game will go overlong. When it is too late to walk back to his rooms, he stays the night."

Arwen looked up at Glorfindel. "So you only ever sleep?" she asked skeptically.

"Of course," said Erestor. "What else do you think we would do?" It only took a moment for Erestor to glean the meaning behind Arwen's pointed stare. His eyes then went impossibly wide and he glared at her, though his face went red just as instantly. "Arwen! That is highly improper and hardly something you should even be thinking about!"

"Oh, Erestor. I may have a few years yet until my majority, but I am hardly a child anymore. I already know about these things."

"How?" asked her distressed tutor. 

Though she lifted her chin at Erestor's stare, Arwen knew she blushed. "I... may have ventured too far in the library... once or twice. A few times. And of course I have heard things."

"From whom?"

She rolled her eyes. "From everyone, Erestor! My brothers, primarily, when they think I cannot hear them. Do not distract me because this is not what is important right now!" She huffed and turned back to them both. "All right. Let me get this straight. You are friends."

"Friends, yes." It was Glorfindel who answered, for Erestor was still seething in his prudish affront. The captain laid a hand on his shoulder to provide support and comfort. 

Arwen glared at the hand on Erestor's shoulder as if it personally offended her. "Friends," she said, unable to hide the distaste from her voice. "That is it?" 

"You say that as if being friends is not a wonderful thing," said Glorfindel. "Some friends can be quite precious to you, beloved as much if not more than family by blood."

"This is ridiculous," muttered Arwen. She knew it was an unlady-like thing to do and that Erestor would scold her for it, which he looked about to do, so she spoke up again, beating him to it. "No, I still do not understand. You hold hands!" 

Glorfindel's eyebrow rose again. "Your brothers hold hands. I hold your father's hand, as well as your mother's. I do so often with friends."

"But Erestor does not. And... and you do it often, and when you do I thought you do it so _gently_ with him and... oh bother. You just touch each other all the time."

"That is indeed true," said Erestor, who crossed his arms as if what Arwen said was also his complaint. "Glorfindel is unfortunately quite fond of touching."

"Oh, please!" laughed Glorfindel. He squeezed Erestor's shoulder once before he finally let go, deeming him comforted enough. "You do not fool me. Everyone needs a touch of comfort every once in a while, even if from a select few and not taken or given as freely as I do. I wonder how you existed for so long having been so long denied." He playfully pulled one of Erestor's ears, making the counsellor jump and slap his hand away. "Admit it. You have grown to like it."

"Yes, but only sometimes, and definitely not like that." Erestor frowned at him and swatted at an approaching hand again. "Do not touch me when I do not need it, Glorfindel." This only succeeded in making Glorfindel laugh.

"Ugh." Arwen let out a frustrated sigh as she watched them. "I cannot be the only one who thinks this. The guards know to call Erestor when something has happened to you, Glorfindel."

"Well, of course they would call him," said Glorfindel, smiling. "He is my emergency contact, after all." 

"Oh, you see! Are those not reserved for spouses?"

"Not necessarily. Everyone in the guard has to have at least one contact, and it is whomever would come quickest for when one is in peril. It just so happened that the criteria best fit spouses and family in most cases."

"So why Erestor?"

"I have no family on this side of the Sea, not anymore. And like I said, it is whomever would come quickest. Never has Erestor failed me, and he truly does arrive when needed." Glorfindel smiled at Erestor when he said this, which the counsellor returned modestly with a slight nod. 

Arwen sighed and listed out a few more things. "You dance together."

"I like to dance, and I like to drag Erestor out with me. Otherwise he would not dance at all and would just sulk in a corner."

"I beg your pardon, good sir, but I do not _sulk_."

"You spend each and every moment together," said Arwen again.

It was Erestor who spoke this time. "What we do in our own time and with whom we choose to spend it is our business. Besides, surely you exaggerate. You make it as if we were attached at the hip!"

Glorfindel laid a hand on his shoulder again, to catch his attention but also to calm him. "No, no. She has a point. I actually do search for you every chance I get. I like company and you are good company."

"When we take our place in the dining hall, Glorfindel, you would always serve the food to Erestor first before placing anything on your plate."

"That is because he is an annoying and unrepentant gentleman, even if I have already said that I am beginning to be embarrassed and offended by such care," said Erestor with a scowl.

Arwen sighed. "You finish each other's sentences, and sometimes it is as if you can read each other's thoughts. Surely that is an old couple thing."

Erestor and Glorfindel looked at one another. For some reason, Glorfindel suddenly looked amused, but Erestor just looked exasperated. "It is not exclusive to couples, Arwen," he said.

"It is something you can develop with an old friend, especially one you have known since the Second Age," added Glorfindel, as if in continuation of Erestor's thought. They did it to spite her, she just knew. 

"Well, all right. What about that time when I asked Glorfindel to draw me a picture? He asked me what I would like to be drawn and I told him to draw whomever he found was most beautiful in Imladris. He drew you, Erestor."

 _Finally_ , Arwen noted in triumph, Glorfindel blushed. The captain turned to Erestor. "Your face is most familiar to me. Besides, you know this," he said, honest still though he was flustered. "That I find you fair, I mean. I have asked to sketch and to even paint you before."

"So you have," said an amused Erestor. He sighed a little later, though, as if remembering something. "I agree to sit for you because you ask so nicely, but I still think you sketch me more beautiful than I actually am. It is a bit embarrassing looking at your work, so I am almost afraid of this picture you gave to Arwen."

"It is how you look to me, Erestor. I change nothing. I need not change anything."

Arwen has had enough. "Elbereth, stop. Just stop! Do you see? It is exactly these things that give people the wrong impression!" 

Erestor turned to her, giving her yet another odd look. "What things?" 

"Look at you two! Have you ever watched yourselves or listened to your conversations? You are like an old couple. You are sweeter than even Ada and Nana." Arwen was flushed and felt utterly confused, and for some reason, she felt as if she was about to cry. "How can you not be together? I have always thought that I would want what you two have when I am older and find my own love. I have parents, for the Valar's sake, and still I look up to you more instead! Now you tell me that there is nothing there after all? What have I been seeing all this time? It is so unfair! You should just be together and set my world right again!"

To her horror and that of her mentors before her, Arwen actually did begin to cry. Tears suddenly filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks, and she wiped at them with her hands, nearly dropping a few flowers from the basket around her wrist. "I am sorry," she said, sniffing. She blushed and felt horribly embarrassed. "I am so sorry. I don't know why I am crying. It is not my business, not really. It is just that I have always been so happy for you two, and I always loved to watch you together and I... I feel so silly now."

She was suddenly enveloped in comforting warmth. She saw blurry tendrils of gold at the corner of her eyes as a deep, kind voice spoke beside her ear. "Oh, Arwen. You are a sweet girl. Do not cry." She buried her face in Glorfindel's chest and he let her. He held her tightly for a moment before he slowly pulled away, smiling gently at her and wiping her tears. "And I am terribly sorry, dear lady. I think I understand what has happened now. Do not fret, for you are not silly, and in fact are very wise."

Glorfindel sighed as he completely pulled away from her. It was what he did next, however, that stopped Arwen's sobs. She gasped and watched wide-eyed as Glorfindel pulled Erestor to face him and, with no further indication as to his intent, tucked the myrtle he was holding into the counsellor's hair, just behind his ear. When the flower was in place, he pulled back his hand, but not before lightly running the back of his fingers against the shell of Erestor's ear. Arwen could see that Erestor was just as shocked as she was. He shivered at Glorfindel's touch and looked up at him with wide eyes. 

Glorfindel remained quiet, however, and merely tipped Erestor's chin up so he could survey his work. When next he spoke, all that he said was, "What about a yellow flower instead?"

In shock still, Erestor only blurted out, "I-It will drown in your hair."

The stuttered comment made Glorfindel smile. "Aah. So it will. Perhaps next time, when it is just you." He removed the flower from Erestor's hair anyway and turned to Arwen, nodding at her basket. "Maybe a white jasmine, my lady, if no one has picked it yet."

"What? Oh, of course!" She quickly wiped at her eyes again to clear her sight before she searched her basket and moved a few flowers aside with careful fingers. She then handed Glorfindel a bundle of white blossoms, their sweet scent filling the air, and took the myrtles in exchange for them. "I made sure to go to my favourite couple first so they can have their pick of all the flowers," she said shyly.

Glorfindel smiled approvingly at her, which the young lady returned with her own delighted one. He then turned back to Erestor. The flowers this time came in a bundle attached to the vine, so he plucked a few leaves out before taking a lock of Erestor's dark hair in his hand. He then proceeded to braid the flowers into Erestor's hair. 

"You have keen eyes, Arwen," said Glorfindel as he worked. "For you see things even though they were meant to be hidden. I have long lost my heart to Erestor, although truth be told, I have not fully ridden myself of my fear of him, so I do not speak of it. I never had the courage to do so, save now maybe, when I see that my silence has broken a sweet girl's heart." He chuckled. "It is not only fear, though. I am truly content with his company, and find I want for little when he is around, except maybe when he sleeps beside me at night and my heart cries out in my desire to hold him." 

His two companions seemed shocked to silence, although Glorfindel did not seem perturbed by this. He reached out behind his own hair to pull out a tie from one of his braids, and tied the end of the braid he just made on Erestor's hair. He then stepped closer to Erestor, slowly so that the other could pull away if he so wished. When Erestor stayed still, Glorfindel placed a light kiss between his brows. "It looks good on you," he complimented him with a smile.

Having been addressed, Erestor seemed to awaken from his stupor. He looked down at his feet, then at the braid Glorfindel made, touching the white flowers gingerly as though afraid they would wither and fall from his hair. "I... Thank you." 

He started when a bunch of matching white blooms were placed under his nose. He turned to Arwen, who was now smiling brilliantly at him. 

A moment passed, and then Erestor eventually moved to take the flowers, sighing, though he later smiled. "Thank you, my lady," he said. 

"You are most welcome." She looked at them both, one after the other. "So you will wear flowers for the Midsummer feast?" 

Glorfindel turned questioning eyes at Erestor, who returned his gaze for a moment before turning again to Arwen. "Aye, we will. Thank you for them."

Delighted at that answer, Arwen left to give them privacy, for young yet though she was, and though they shared the beginning of the moment with her, she knew it was an important moment for them that they would seek to conclude once she was gone. 

She was a good distance away from them across the other end of the hall when she could no longer keep herself from turning to check on them. Sure enough, they were kissing, lips together this time, with Glorfindel tenderly caressing Erestor's hair. The white flowers were still in Erestor's hand, which rested upon Glorfindel's shoulder, though the other was on the captain's waist.

She stopped looking, leaving them to their moment. She sighed happily, though. Midsummer has definitely become her favourite time of the year, and the feast was a wonderful idea. She cannot wait to tell Nana, nor could she wait to convince Ada that they should make the feast a regular occurrence. If all goes well, she knew whom she will always allow first pick of the flowers.

\- fin -

**Author's Note:**

> In the language of flowers, myrtle is an emblem of marriage and a symbol of true love. I thought it is something Arwen would give to the "long-time" couple she admired. 
> 
> White jasmine, on the other hand, is a symbol for sweet and pure love, and would be more appropriate to their situation, I think, since it will still be new. Jasmine seems like a modest flower but it's very beautiful and it smells wonderful (my favorite floral scent, actually). We love it here in my country and we often weave it in a garland. Anyway, I generally associate white flowers with the way Glorfindel would love Erestor because I imagine his heart is generous and pure, and his love honest in its expression and absolute in its devotion. So yes, he is a white flower. The yellow flower was just self-indulgent for him, as it is the symbol of his House. I thought it was kind of naughty of him, though, wanting to mark his territory like that. ;)
> 
> In other news, I am feeling the heat of summer where I am and it is ridiculous. If there is anything to look forward to though, it's the flowers. We have lots of fire trees along the roads in the city and they are beautiful in summer, around April or May. I know Midsummer is typically celebrated in June, but I believe by then it would be rainy for us, lol.


End file.
